The “Bridget Jones” lifestyle in which educated young women remain single well
into their 30s could put unprecedented strain on the nation’s housing stock,
official figures suggest.

With young professionals postponing marriage to concentrate on building their careers, the number of single person households in Britain has leapt by 73 per cent since the early 1980s, according to the Office for National Statistics.

An estimated 7.5 million people now live alone, with pensioners making up a smaller proportion of the group than in the past.

Instead there has been a marked drop in the proportion of people in their late 20s and early 30s living with a husband, wife or partner.

The trend is set to take the number of households in Britain past the 30 million mark by 2021, the ONS predicts. It currently stands at 25.7 million, having risen by a quarter since 1981.

Last year David Willetts, the Tory Shadow Cabinet member for family policy, blamed a “Bridget Jones” lifestyle for an increasing number of young men entering adult life without the opportunity to settle down and act as the main breadwinner for a family of their own.

In the books by Helen Fielding, later adapted into films starring Renee Zellweger, the character Bridget Jones works in publishing and despairs of settling down with one of two feckless suitors, played by Hugh Grant and Colin Firth.

According to the ONS figures, the proportion of women in their early 30s classed as living as part of a couple fell from 77.3 per cent in 1988 to just 72.6 per cent last year.

With only a slight rise in the proportion of lone parents in the age group over the same period, those living outside a family unit – either alone or sharing with friends – rose from 7.5 per cent to 10.6 per cent.